Tuesday, April 19, 2016

TELL ME TUESDAY #91

TELL ME TUESDAY is a floating feature, depending on your reading style, where you tell us what you read last, what you are reading now, what you will be reading in the future from your tbr pile, and why. I am oh so curious why people read what they read. So tell me!

Again my TMT is doing double duty as my ARC APRIL update.

ZERO

My two week grand total is two. *weeps*

This is being posted so late in the day because I thought I was going to finish Black Rabbit Hall so I could use it towards my ARC April total this week.

However, because I had to go back and read some of the beginning, because I was confused about the timelines (there are two), I still have 25% to go. Plus, I was at a very sad primary election watch party and maybe I had a couple of drinks.

Besides the hanging suicide on the first page there were children kept in cages, and children being held down for scary procedures. In my opinion solidly not for 7-12 year olds. This will assuredly be one of my rant reviews. She said she wrote this for her nine year old niece. Why on earth would she do that?

NOW

GOODREADS

As soon as I finish Black Rabbit Hall tomorrow morning, I will be starting this Middle Grade. It will count towards the challenge.

23 comments:

Yeah, A Curious Tale of the In Between does NOT sound like it's for nine year olds. I think my favorite book at that age was about unicorns- it had action, but little to no violence.I'm reading Mad Ship by Robin Hobb, which is the second in a series, and is about, among other things, a Mad (sentient) Ship. I'm also reading the Sword Dancer by Jeannie Lincoln, which also has a self explanatory title, but it's a historical romance set in China. I like her books because they have interesting story lines that tend to be on the lighter than historical fiction, which can sometimes put a damper on my mood.~Litha Nelle

I had this nice thought out comment all done and written and it disappeared! So sad!

But, do you follow Lauren DeStefano on twitter? I do, and I find myself not really that surprised that she would say that she wrote something some dark for her niece. Also, I feel like sometimes publishers stick a book into an age range based solely on the age of the main character in the story and don't care about anything else.

She seems to be trying to make a statement within the story that children should be able to read anything they want, which, as a parent, angers me. She very purposely wrote a story that could be read by younger children reading skill wise that was filled with images not appropriate for that age group. Yes, I have followed Lauren in the past, because she is one of my favorite YA authors, but follow her no longer after things she has said about other people (especially other authors) who suffer from mental health issues. Apparently she has a self proclaimed monopoly on author anxiety issues and panic attacks, and the rest of us peons can only have mental health issues if we kiss her author ass and hang on her every word like she is some psychiatric guru or something. Maybe she wrote that book to ensure another generation of Twitter follower fodder for her gift certificate giveaways. Which is why most people follower her. She needs that verbal abuse whipping boy pool replenished every now and again.

I'm not sure I want to read A Curious Tale of the In Between with that subject manner let alone recommend it to kids! I'm not against dark themes for children but something that graphic and upsetting seems unnecessary. I'm glad you got Black Rabbit Hall straightened out and I hope you do enjoy it. Have a great week!

Yes, I am enjoying Black Rabbit Hall. I am happy I saw it on your blog.The contemporary storyline got more interesting around the 30% mark. Yes, Curious Tale is too dark for all but maybe the 12 year olds of the MG reading ages.

I've 3 books for ARC April so far, and I'm currently in the middle of Bookishly Ever After! A Curious Tale of the In-Between doesn't even sound like a book that I'd like, let alone a 7 year old. Good luck on this week!

JOLENE: I just started reading The Serpent King. I have heard a lot of hype about this book so I hope I won't be disappointed. I am also reading a book of poems I got from NetGalley called Leave This Song Behind.

The first 20% of The Serpent King was meh for me, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. There are so many great looking poetry books out there. I wish I liked it more. I do like books written in free verse though. :)

I still really want to read The Curious Tale! I mean, I get that some kids wouldn't be able to handle that stuff, but it does depend?? Not all kids are ready for the same books at the same ages. :P I was kind of reading Roald Dahl till I was 15. But I was super immature. HEHE. (OKAY SOME STUFF DOESN'T CHANGE.) My little sister was reading YA when she was a lot younger and she handled it just fine. So yup. Hard to say with those kinds. It always depends!I'm reading It's A Wonderful Death! Which is sometimes quirky and funny but a little boring. :/

I am doing a blog post about it, but what I will say is that MG should be written with the majority of that age group in mind not, a few "mature" readers. They can be handed YA books then if their parents want them reading stressful scary things. Nothing makes me angrier than an author with no kids who think they can make YA into MG by just changing the age of the MC.I think they all should have to take a college level course in Child Psychology.

Yay for minions!I'm still quite shocked to hear about the hanging... It definitely doesn't sound suitable for 7 to 12 year-olds!Excited to see what you think of Down with the Shine though. It sounds like it will be pretty interesting!

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Hello! I am a 59 year old reader of books, many of which are YA, and literacy volunteer. I am retired from the music business, have a 25 year old son at university, believe in ghosts, and love a couple of martinis on Friday nights.

HIGHLIGHTS

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I think every teen should read this book.
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4.5 Stars on my blog. I accidentally requested this title on Edelweiss thinking it was The Fixer, and I am extremely happy I did! This book dealt with several sensitive issues that affect many young adults, and did it in a realistic way....

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Okay Goodreads, you had better be getting back to me about why my reviews are missing. Here is #12. I will have to go and copy and paste my Netgalley feedback, which was highly praising of this book, by the way!

Ha ha ha, 6.5 out of 5 on my blog if I could! This is probably the best Adult Fantasy book I have read... in my life! My review, if you like fantasy, JUST READ IT. READ IT NOW! NOW!
I have never put a gif in a Goodreads mini-review, but...

4.5 stars on my blog only because she fumbled around a little at the end to tie all plot threads together and also forgot one. An intricately woven Adult Fantasy about the origin of tarot cards, based in our modern world and an alternate...

4.5 on my blog. This book was entertaining as well as informative. The city was based on a real city that existed in Hong Kong before 1987. I have a lot of thoughts about this book and will be back to add to this mini-reciew at a decent ...

Ths is the very first time I am not going to give a book a star rating. Why? Because as an adult reading this story I LOVED IT and would give it 4.5 on my blog.
But as a Middle Grade... NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!! IT I...

To quote one of my favorite authors, Kristen Lippert-Martin, "The weirdest book I ever loved."
WARNING: This novel is not about sandcastles and ninjas.
* I think I will join Elizabeth for some popcorn and pudding.

Four stars on my blog. Why the whole star difference? Well, I know I doesn't help much, but what's up with those 2 stars ratings people?! I haven't read their reasons yet, but I will bet they are those dunderheads that say they don't lik...

4.5 stars on the blog only because there were so many secondary characters I was confused at times, until the late 25% of the book. Lol. Yeah, too many parents called by their first names. This novel has been called a story within a stor...

Um... this is the third time since the beginning of the year that there has been a disappearing rating and mini-review. I know the reviews were here because all three of them were pasted to either EW, NetG, or Amazon (sometimes all three...

This book was actually a 4 1/2, but it was one I didn't want to round down because I loved it so much. As I said in my comments it reminded me of The Casual Vacancy in style, but far less serious. It was basically a read in one sitting b...

This novel has everything I look for in a YA Fantasy story. The author gives a solid history base for the world, no-nonsense physics rules for the environment, original images, just the right amount of description for the setting to ligh...

HIGHLIGHTS

This will be 4.5 stars on my blog only because I loved the second book in this trilogy even MORE! I loved these books so much I bought all three in hardcover for my shelves. As soon as I finish the final book I will be reviewing the tril...

I will be reviewing this trilogy as a whole on my blog soon. The first two books I read pre-blogging, and I have a huge list of those early YA books which need to be reviewed. Thank goodness I read mostly series and I can review those ea...

4.5 on my blog only because I loved the second book so much. Please don't let the covers of this trilogy fool you, they are not Romance novels, I get so tired of seeing fabulous YA stories rated one and two stars because they aren't drip...

4.5 stars on my blog. I can't believe I hadn't reviewed this here yet! I am waiting to read all three books to do a blanket review on my blog because it is an older book, and the third book is supposed to be published in the US soon (it ...

This is a hidden jewel! I found this book in paperback on a $1.00 book rack at Dollar General. After I started my book blog I began scouring all of the Dollar Generals in my area for other copies to have as giveaways, but it was to no av...

See the 4 1/2 star review, with gifs and fandom links, on my blog here ----> http://lalatoadstone.blogspot.com/2014/01/splintered-my-first-blog-review.html
I was introduced to this book by two 13 year olds, Rabbit and Whisper, from a bo...

Refreshingly real and gritty! No kissy facing or love triangles; just in your face life in a dystopian world. Fen is a strong and courageous heroine, who tugs at your heart and amazes you with her facility to be both warrior and gentle c...

I would give this novel 5 and 1/2 stars if I could. What is solidifying about this review is I came into reading this book wanting to hate it because of all of the "funny business" surrounding it's pre-publication. I was pretty smug duri...

4.5 stars on my blog. After reading the first chapter I thought it was going to be just another "cookie cutter" YA Dystopian novel, but I couldn't have been more wrong!! Ms. Kipling imagines a very unique and thought provoking dystopian ...

A delightful, delicious, charming, heart-warming Middle Grade book with a message. It was like Steel Magnolias meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid wrapped up in Cinderella. This sounds so cliche, but I literally could not put it down, and I pulle...

Drum roll please...
One of my rare five star ratings!!!!
This book was exquisite, and I will be back after I have had a chance to let all of its deliciousness sink in. Brava, M.R. Graham for penning a vampire book to rival all vampire ...

I will be back with a review of this lovely book. I wanted to rate it as soon as I was finished and give it a "must read" nod. This was my first experience with Contemporary YA and it was a fabulous one! Here is the link to my full blog ...

A smooth luxurious read. I was just about finished with a full long review of this beautiful novel when the Goodread's tab dropped out, and I lost it all (damn Kindle Fire HD). I am so upset right now I can not bring myself to start over...

4.5 stars on my blog. I am so in love with this story. I was in a horrible reading slump when I picked this book up. It was probably the fifth or sixth book I had tried. I wasn't expecting to become fully engaged within the first few pag...

Well, I wrote a pretty good sized mini-review here and while I was proof reading, it jumped to another page and *poof*, all gone. I am so red-faced and fist angry right now I can't rewrite it, so... I will just say READ THIS BOOK!!! It i...